The NBA and the Player's Association met on Tuesday for around two hours with the meeting said to have focused on 'ideas and concepts'. The two sides are scheduled to sit down again on Wednesday in what could be a pivotal meeting if a full regular season schedule is to be saved.
There were two reports that surfaced following Tuesday's meeting that set the stage for Wednesday's session. First Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the owners had backed off of their insistence on a hard salary cap opting instead for a more punitive luxury tax system.
The owners proposed at Tuesday’s negotiating session an idea similar to the current system that allows teams to pay a luxury tax for going over the cap. Only, now there would be ultra-punitive measures against higher-spending teams.
Ken Berger of CBS Sports also reports that the owners may propose a 50-50 split of revenues once the two sides meet again on Wednesday.
According to the sources, among the additions could be a proposed 50-50 revenue split, which to this point the league has not reached in terms of the players' average share over the life of a new CBA in its previous proposals."
If these reports turn out to be true then perhaps there was truth in Derek Fisher's assumption that ownership was split over the hard cap with several owners being unwilling to let that issue stand in the way of the season.
Chris Sheridan lays things out saying that once the financial negotiations are solved, everything else will fall into place in 2-3 days. He also writes that the biggest issue is the 4 percent projected annual growth per year which in the owners have been reluctant to share with the players. If the latest proposal also includes a concession there then real progress could be made on Wednesday.
With no further meetings scheduled this week and the calendar turning to October over the weekend, today's meeting could be the last chance to save the regular season.